This invention relates to treadmill type exercise devices and more particularly to a safety harness especially adapted for use with a treadmill exercise apparatus to prevent injury to the user in the event of collapse while using the treadmill.
Motorized treadmills today enjoy wide use as exercise devices or as a means of administering "stress tests." When administering a stress test, the user is typically hooked up to an electrocardiogram apparatus and the cardiovascular response of the user is recorded as the speed of the motorized belt of the treadmill is gradually increased and/or the inclination of the belt is gradually increased. Whereas the stress tests are very useful as a means of identifying possible circulatory deficiencies and as a means of quantifying the cardiovascular fitness of the user, they pose a potential danger in that users on occasion are overstressed and collapse while using the treadmill with resultant injury to the user caused by falling onto the still moving treadmill and/or falling totally off of the treadmill and onto the adjacent hard support surface.